Wino Blogger

Producer: Deerfield
Name: Shiraz Cuvée
Varietal: Shiraz, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot, Petit Sirah
Vintage: 2004
Region: Sonoma, United States
Price: ~ $26
Alcohol: 16.1%

I'm not entirely sure why Deerfield decided to create a 16.1% alcohol Shiraz Cuvée. I mean, that's pretty much Amarone alcohol from a Californian wine. This poured like thick syrup that coated the wine glass. The kind of wine that stains your lips and teeth and really makes you look like a wino. I tried to include a picture of the colour and clarity but the blackberry has a shitty camera.

The bouquet smells intensely sweet (alcohol naturally smells sweet) and hot. It's complimented by a strong toasted spice smell with a slight nutty aroma. The wine itself tastes (and feels) like molasses or brown sugar. Even though the alcohol content is high it's still fairly smooth. Toasted spice, heavy black cherries and a finish that's long and almost tacky. For how sweet it is the finish is somewhat dry.

Personally, I thought it was too sweet. I mean, it could've been balanced with a little more acidity to tone it down. I woke up with a slight headache from two glasses of this stuff. That's like eight-TEEN glasses of regular wine!

C-ya!

J

     

Click here to download:

Deerfield_-_Shiraz_Cuve_Tags_W.zip (72 KB)

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Producer: Wolf Blass
Name: Red Label
Varietal: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2008
Region: South Australia, Australia
Price: ~ $18 (for a 1L... heyoh!)
 
Wolf Blass really made a name for itself with it's Wolf Blass Yellow Label. It was a big hit, drew lots of popularity and then really entered mainstream wine drinking. Now for some reason, because of it's success, I get the feeling people are turning their backs on this producer. Which doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It reminds me of those indie music douche bags who like the fact that they've discovered this unheard of new band and then once the band gets popular they think they've sold out even though the music hasn't changed.
 
"Pinkerton was they're best album and I have all of they're B-sides. Now they suck ass. Fucking sell outs"
 
Shut your mouth. Those people like the idea of exclusivity than they like the actual product. Wolf Blass wine is still well produced and just because they're not the little boutique winery any more doesn't mean their quality is any worse.
 
The 2008 Shiraz/Cab smells of sweet red fruit like strawberries and raspberries. It has a well rounded body (simple but well rounded) and tastes of more ripe raspberries with a hint of mint and subtle fruitiness. The finish is smooth with a medium dryness.
 
PS: If you notice on the image there's a small semi-circle label on the bottle. That's right... it was a 1L bottle (it was on sale. Give me a break).

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